Adjustable shelves and support therefor

ABSTRACT

Especially suitable for use in confined areas such as the inside of a panel truck end support units fabricated from plated steel wire each includes vertical posts or standards drilled at spaced intervals with the holes in front post being substantially in alignment horizontally with the holes in the back post. Shelves fabricated from plated steel wire are easily located and removably attached to both of the end panels in the holes of the post thereof from one side of the assembly which may be the aisle of a panel truck. Each shelf is held in place by rearward projecting and horizontally disposed pins on each end of the shelf and each pin being inserted in their respective aligned hole in the back post of the assembly and rearwardly depending ends on each end of the front of a respective shelf which likewise is positioned in the corresponding hole in each of the front post. Shelves are positioned and placed for use by aligning the respective pins at the front and the back of the shelf with the respective openings in the vertical posts and then pushing the shelf rearwardly into position. The shelf is removed by pulling same forward. Optionally a spring member made from a piece of bent and looped wire is pressed out of the way for insertion of the shelf and permitted to spring into position behind the post once the shelf is seated in the respective holes thereby preventing accidental dislodgement of the shelf. The spring member is displaced manually by pressure from one finger while holding on to another part of the shelf.

United States Patent Barrineau, III

[1 1 3,705,654 [451 Dec.12,1972

[ 1 ADJUSTABLE SHELVES AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Wade H. Barrineau, Ill,DeKalb County, Ga.

[72] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Southern Cross Industries, Inc., At-

lanta, Ga.

[22] Filed: Jan. 20, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 108,091

[52] U.S.Cl ..2l1/176, 108/110 1 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47f 5/10 [58] Field ofSearch ..21 11176, 177, 181; 108/59, 108/106, 110, 148,146

Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney-Patrick F. Henry [57]ABSTRACT Especially suitable for use in confined areas such as theinside of a panel truck end support units fabricated from plated steelwire each includes vertical posts or standards drilled atspacedintervals with the holes in front post being substantially in alignmenthorizontally with the holes in the back post. Shelves fabricated fromplated steel wire are easily located and removably attached to both ofthe end panels in the holes of the post thereof from one side oftheassembly which may be the aisle of a panel truck. Each shelf is heldin place by rearward projecting and horizontally disposed pins on eachend of the shelf and each pin being inserted in their respective alignedhole in the back post of the assembly and rearwardly depending ends oneach end of the front of a respective shelf which likewiseis positionedin the corresponding hole in each of the front post. Shelves arepositioned and placed for use by aligning the respective pins at thefront and the back of the shelf with the respective openings in thevertical posts and then pushing the shelf rearwardly into position; Theshelf is removed by pulling same forward. Optionally a spring membermade from a piece of bent and looped wire is pressed 13 Claims, 6Drawing Figures PATENTED DEC 1 2 I972 SHEET 1 BF 2 /A/ vavrw WADE H.BAREIIV'AUE.

fli ATTOR E) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionClassification Generally supports and racks and more particularlysupports having adjustable shelving thereon where the shelves areengaged in spaced locations on the supports.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art includes U.S. Pat Nos.2,315,595; 2,447,704; 2,600,191; 2,761,568; 3,007,708; 3,101,148;3,343,506. The use of wire shelves with ends which attach to columns orother types of vertical support means is old in the art. These shelvesemploy some type of engagement between the shelves and the supportswhich must be manipulated and disengaged and again manipulated toreplace the shelves. The prior art shelves disclosed in the above notedpatents are not entirely suited for use in confined spaces such as theinside of a panel truck which has only a small aisle space in the middleand shelves on both sides from which the personnel must remove"merchandise or equipment as for example in repair trucks such astelephone and other similar types. While the prior art shelves can beremoved and replaced in different positions the operation sometimesrequires the removal of screws or other similar fasteners and thereplacement thereof. This is extremely time consuming and tedious andannoying to repairmen who are mainly interested in getting the necessaryrepair parts onto the truck in proper place and in getting the shelvesadjusted readily to receive the particular size merchandise placedthereon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By having the vertical supports both front andrear provided with holes which face towards the front which would be theaisle of a truck and having the shelves with horizontal projecting shelfretainer members which insert by alignment into respective openings andthen are readily seated by slightly pushing the shelf toward the rearthe problem of manipulation has been simplified and the use of removablefasteners and brackets has been eliminated altogether. Through the useof the optional spring latching member on the shelf the problem ofaccidental dislodgement or disengagement of the shelf has beenpractically eliminated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of atypical shelf mounted on the four vertical posts and illustrating aconfined space in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the shelf shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the shelf shown inFIG. 1 looking from the opposite direction.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation view of a portion of a latching detail,taken along lines 4-4 in FIGS. 3 and 5.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of he portion of the latching detail shown inFIG. 4, taken along lines 5-5 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view illustrating a variation of .theinstallation of the shelf.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT It should be understood from theoutset that while there is illustrated only one or two shelves'in thepresent disclosure this is not a significant number by any means sincethe number of shelves is variable depending upon the installation andmay be increased or decreased as desired.

The entire assembly is designated by reference numeral 10 and comprisesfour spaced vertical posts or standards 12,14,16 and 18 which for thesake of description only are referred to as the rear posts 12, 14, andthe front posts 16, 18. Actually, rear post 12, and the front post 16are part of an integral end panel constructed from welded wire as arerear posts 14 and front post 18. Each of the end panels are designatedin assembly by reference numeral 20 and each comprises the respectivefront and rear'posts 12, 16 and 14, '18 connected together transverselyby welded wire members 22 which for the sake of appearance anddurability are plated with chrome or other material and which areconnected together vertically and longitudinally by spaced wires 24altogether forming the rigid wire panel assembly 20. Each of the posts12, 14, 16 and 18 have been drilled at spaced intervals to provideopenings or holes 26 which when the two panels 20 are assembled inspaced relationship in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 provide theopenings 26 in spaced alignment horizontally and vertically so that aset of holes 26 on posts 12 has a corresponding hole horizontallytherefrom on post 16 as does post 14 and 18. By means of these openingsor holes 26 a shelf designated generally by reference numeral 30 may bepositioned in a set of holes 26 inhorizontal arrangement.

Posts 12, 14, 16 and 18 may be hollow, plated tubing orconduit in whichas shown in FIG. 2 may be inserted bottom support brackets which are:bracket 34 having a foot 35 with an upstanding cylindrical collar 36thereon with a threaded stud 37 inserted inside the post 12 nd screwedin place into the floor 38 of a panel truck 40. The front posts 16, 18may be provided with an adjustable foot 42 having a bottom disc floorengaging member 44 thereon to which is attached a threaded stud 46adjustably threaded into a threaded bushing 48 inside the bottom end ofthe posts 16, 18. With this arrangement the posts 12, 14, 16 and 18 maybe installed with the respective panels 20 in spaced relationship on thefloor 38 of a typical van or panel truck 40 which could be a telephonetruck or similar repair truck. The entire assembly 10 may extend fromthe floor all the way to engage the ceiling 48 of the truck or closelythereto.

Each shelf assembly 30- comprises a longitudinal front bar 50 and acorresponding longitudinal rear or back bar 52 which may be chromeplated metal strips. The front bar 50 and the back bar 52 are connectedinto a rigid shelf assembly 30 by means of transverse plated wiremembers 54 welded wherever there is an intersection such as 60 withmember 50 and 62 with member 52 and to the transverse wire members 54there is welded a plurality of longitudinal wire members 66 arranged inspaced relationship from one end of the shelf 30 to the other end.Additional transverse strengthening means is provided. by transversewire members 70 at spaced locations longitudinally across the shelfwhich are welded at points of intersection such as 72 with therespective longitudinal wire members 66. This provides a rigid shelfassembly 30.

One of the longitudinal wire members at the front of the shelf assembly30 designated by reference numeral 76 projects beyond-theend of theshelf assembly 30 represented generally by the members 54 and has a 90bend in it providing a projecting member 78 on each end of the member 76which is a pin insertable in a respective opening 26. Another one of thelongitudinal members designated by reference numeral 80 is similarlyconstructed to member 76 with projecting pins 82 on each end thereofwhichare arranged in length and dimension with respect to the distancebetween the end panels to fit exactly into a matching and respective andcorresponding opening 26. Ordinarily a typical set of openings such asthose designated for purposes of illustration as 26a,b,c and d in FIG. 1would be in horizontal alignment to receive a shelf as would be all ofthe other respective openings 26 above and below same. Therefore a shelf30 and in fact any other shelves 30 may be installed in any one of thesets of holes 26 at any elevation and any other shelf 30 may beinstalled at the immediate next set of holes. A shelf 30 may be placedas close to another shelf above or below same as the distance betweenone hole 26 and the next lowermost or uppermost hole 26. This makes itpossible to provide short shelf space where coils of wire or otherthings are being used which do not require a great deal of head roombetween shelves.

Optionally, to hold the shelf securely in place and practicallyeliminate any chance of dislodgement thereof, a latching meansdesignated generally by reference numeral 90 is provided on each end ofthe shelf 30 and it comprises a spring latching rod member 92 which isconstructed by bending another one of the longitudinal shelf members 94at each end thereof into the rod member 92 and thence into a loop 94which is looped about the transverse member 54 of shelf 30. The face ofthe loop 94 is spaced such in the construction and design as to beapproximately the distance from the end of the respective member 76discounting the length of portion 78 so that after the shelf 30 has beeninserted and seated in place the latch member is behind the respectivepost 16 or 18 since normally these are used only on the front posts and,are not necessary on the rear posts whereby the latch member may bereleased and will spring behind the posts 16 or 18. This prevents theshelf 30 from being pulled forward either accidentally or intentionallyuntil the fingers of the hand are used to depress the member 92 intoalmost co-extensive engagement with the member 54 so that the shelf willclear the posts 16 and 18.

In FIG. 6 it is illustrated how a shelf 30 may be misaligned in a set ofopenings 26 so that the rear of the shelf at member 52 is higher thanthe front shelf at member 50 and obviously to one skilled in the art theshelf could be mis-aligned in the other direction so that it tiltsbackwards instead of forward and vice versa. This may be advantageouswhen storing certain types of merchandise where it is desired that themerchandise be dispensed from the front.

The posts 12,14,16, 18 can be a free standing structure rather thaninstalled in a truck with brackets 34 and foot 42. Posts 12, etc. can beconnected in any manner to make them free standing whether or not in atruck, on the ground, a floor, etc,

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my inventiontogether with a suggested mode of operation thereof and a particulardesirable type of installation this is by way of illustration only anddoes not constitute any sort of limitationon the scope of the inventionsince various alterations, changes, deviations, substitutions,eliminations, additions, integrations, subtractions, removals,combinings and other departures may be made in the embodiment shown anddescribed without departing from the scope of the invention as definedby a proper interpretation of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an adjustable shelf assembly:

a. vertical support members supported to extend upwardly and havingspaced openings arranged vertically therein, there being front and rearvertical support members at opposite ends of said structure,

b. a rigid quadrilateral shelf structure having front and rear insertionmembers at opposite ends thereof insertable in respective front and rearopenings in said front and rear support'means, said openings in saidsupports facing outwardly in the same direction so that the shelf isinserted from the front only by engaging both said front and rearinsertion members in the respective openings at the same level andpushing said insertion members into said openings whereby said shelf maybe installed or removed from the front when the rear is closed as forexample on one side of the inside of a truck.

2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said insertion members are located adjacent each of the four corners ofsaid shelf and all of said insertion members project in the samedirection rearwardly.

3. The arrangement claimed in claim 1 wherein:

there are four sets of spaced, vertical openings on said support membersand each of said support members is located at a respective comer ofsaid assembly.

4. The device in claim 3:

said rigid shelf structure being of quadralateral form and having aprojecting insertion member adjacent each corner thereof and all of saidprojecting insertion members extending in the same direction towards thedirection of insertion of said shelf into said openings whereby each ofsaid insertion members is aligned in a respective opening in saidsupports and said shelf is inserted on said supports by pushing same inone direction into said openings,

5. The device claimed in claim 3:

said openings being vertically spaced and facing all in the samedirection and said insertion members being substantially horizontallyarranged on said shelf structure for insertion in said openings.

6. The device claimed in claim 1:

a latching member on said shelf manually movable to permit the insertionof the insertion members in the supports and being movable after theshelf is in place to be on the opposite side of said support from theopening in which said insertion member is inserted.

7. The shelf apparatus claimed in claim 1, wherein:

said support means includes floor posts arranged in spaced relation bothlongitudinally and transversely to provide four corners of thestructure,

each of said posts having spaced openings therein and said openingscorresponding to one another and all of said posts to represent a shelflocation at a particular horizontal elevation,

said shelf structure being a rigid assembly of longitudinal andtransverse members including a longitudinal front member and alongitudinal back member and said insertion members being extensions ofsaid longitudinal members and extending therefrom substantiallytransversely on the ends of and adjacent the corners of each shelf.

8. The device in claim 1:

said vertical support means including a plurality of 9. The device inclaim 8: a latch means movable to permit insertion of the shelf and theninto position thereagainst to prevent dislodgement thereof.

10. The device in claim 9: said latch means comprising a latch memberspring biased into latch position.

11. The device in claim 10: said latch member being a spring membercarried by said shelf and extending along one side thereof, said latchmember being bendable towards said shelf to clear said support membersand springing into place in the way of said support members to preventdislodgement of said shelf.

12. The device in claim 11: said latch member being an elongated memberattached to one end of said shelf and having the other end thereof bentinto a loop forming the engagement means to prevent said shelf fromdislodging.

13. The device claimed in claim 12: there being a latch member on eachend of said shelf and said latch member being constructed from acontinuous length of wire attached across the length of said shelf andbent at each end to form said latch member.

1. In an adjustable shelf assembly: a. vertical support memberssupported to extend upwardly and having spaced openings arrangedvertically therein, there being front and rear vertical support membersat opposite ends of said structure, b. a rigid quadrilateral shelfstructure having front and rear insertion members at opposite endsthereof insertable in respective front and rear openings in said frontand rear support means, said openings in said supports facing outwardlyin the same direction so that the shelf is inserted from the front onlyby engaging both said front and rear insertion members in the respectiveopenings at the same level and pushing said insertion members into saidopenings whereby said shelf may be installed or removed from the frontwhen the rear is closed as for example on one side of the inside of atruck.
 2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein: said insertion membersare located adjacent each of the four corners of said shelf and all ofsaid insertion members project in the same direction rearwardly.
 3. Thearrangement claimed in claim 1, wherein: there are four sets of spaced,vertical openings on said support members and each of said supportmembers is located at a respective corner of said assembly.
 4. Thedevice in claim 3: said rigid shelf structure being of quadralateralform and having a projecting insertion member adjacent each cornerthereof and all of said projecting insertion members extending in thesame direction towards the direction of insertion of said shelf intosaid openings whereby each of said insertion members is aligned in arespective opening in said supports and said shelf is inserted on saidsupports by pushing same in one direction into said openings.
 5. Thedevice claimed in claim 3: said openings being vertically spaced andfacing all in the same direction and said insertion members beingsubstantially horizontally arranged on said shelf structure forinsertion in said openings.
 6. The device claimed in claim 1: a latchingmember on said shelf manually movable to permit the insertion of theinsertion members in the supports and being movable after the shelf isin place to be on the opposite side of said support from the opening inwhich said insertion member is inserted.
 7. The shelf apparatus claimedin claim 1, wherein: said support means includes floor posts arranged inspaced relation both longitudinally and transversely to provide fourcorners of the structure, each of said posts having spaced openingstherein and said openings corresponding to one another and all of saidposts to represent a shelf location at a particular horizontalelevation, said shelf structure being a rigid assembly of longitudinaland transverse members including a longitudinal front member and alongitudinal back member and said insertion members being extensions ofsaid longitudinal members and extending therefrom substantiallytransversely on the ends of and adjacent the corners of each shelf. 8.The device in claim 1: said vertical support means including a pluralityof vertical members in spaced relation defining a three dimensionalstructure, said shelf structure having horizontal projecting insertionmembers near opposite ends thereof.
 9. The device in claim 8: a latchmeans movable to permit insertion of the shelf and then into positionthereagainst to prevent dislodgement thereof.
 10. The device in claim 9:said latch means comprising a latch member spring biAsed into latchposition.
 11. The device in claim 10: said latch member being a springmember carried by said shelf and extending along one side thereof, saidlatch member being bendable towards said shelf to clear said supportmembers and springing into place in the way of said support members toprevent dislodgement of said shelf.
 12. The device in claim 11: saidlatch member being an elongated member attached to one end of said shelfand having the other end thereof bent into a loop forming the engagementmeans to prevent said shelf from dislodging.
 13. The device claimed inclaim 12: there being a latch member on each end of said shelf and saidlatch member being constructed from a continuous length of wire attachedacross the length of said shelf and bent at each end to form said latchmember.